30/07/2025
UN BRITÁNICO QUE TRABAJÓ POR Y PARA LA EDUCACIÓN EN EL PERÚ POR CASI 20 AÑOS
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Tom Jolly’s Memoir.
Tom Jolly – Environmental Educator in Peru 1996 – 2017
A brief history of my journey in both countries, Peru and Great Britain,
Dedicated to environmental education
We Went Green – We'll Be Sustainable
Gone Green – Going Sustainable
Wow... a communication has arrived... "Please Tom, can you write a few words about the journey of your work dedicated to environmental education in Peru?"
Thinking about it, yes why not. But a journey of more than two decades in an article of not too many words and a journey that became much broader than only Peru, one that would see international collaboration between young people and their elders from Latin America and continents beyond. And we of course now need to begin to interpret the outcomes of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, (and its recommendations for the 21st century, "Agenda 21") that introduce and formalise the principal that we need to consider symbiotic development practices with the environment, society and economy, or, in other words, sustainable development at the local to global level.......... Blimey!
OK, let's begin. I arrived in Peru in 1996, responsible for supporting the training of teachers in environmental education. I was far from home, without Spanish as a language and a two-year project ahead of me. I quickly learned that I had a good team of colleagues, a good network of educational centres with enthusiastic teachers and students, and the best thing, there was a good network of educators, organisations, individuals etc., with a lot of experiences already in environmental education.
I was recruited as an ‘expert’ in environmental education, but my environment was essentially thousands of miles away in Britain with a distinctly Gringolandian perspective. Of course, I had my experiences and ideas, but the environment was somewhat different in Peru with its very arid coast, very high mountains and a very hot and wet rainforest, and, by putting those three ecological regions together, the result is as we all know, a very, very, very rich level of biodiversity.
I suppose my global perspective began only a few months after my arrival in Peru with a query from a primary school student who wanted to know; "Why was Lima so dirty and polluted, not like your country back in Great Britain?"
My answer was that; "Well of course we still have dirty and polluted areas there, but that was because we were the original inventors of environmental pollution such as industrial smog and gases, solid waste such as plastics as well as hazardous liquids such as agricultural chemicals and sewage from towns and cities."
It was this then that began the mission to bring together the two communities of Latin America and Gringolandia, hopefully resulting in a better understanding of the possible causes and consequences of environmental, economic and social life at a local to global level. In other words, and retrospectively, I was involved in 20 years dedicated to the field of Education for Sustainable Development and the principles of "Agenda 21".
To begin to achieve this there would have to be a significant amount of collaboration between individuals and institutions, and of course there is no time or space in this article to illustrate everything. So, for now I would like to briefly explain below, three important initiatives: Rescue Mission Planet Earth, global collaboration between schools and, lastly but maybe most significantly, the importance of Pachamama.
To learn a little more about GlobalEd's work, you can go to the website, but for now, here’s a summary of our main areas of work:
What is GlobalEd (short for Global Education for Sustainable Development)?
Simultaneous development and implementation of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) with educational establishments in the UK and Peru:
1. Institutional capacity development
2. Professional Development
3. Curriculum Development
4. Materials and project development
5. School Engagement
6. Alternative financing strategies
7. Exchange and volunteer visits
8. Promoting ESD
One of the most influential partners in our work is the British NGO Peace Child International. Its main mission is the empowerment of youth and as its name signifies, its work began in peace projects. However, in 1992, remember, there was a very important conference coordinated by the UN in Rio de Janeiro - The Earth Summit. Its objective was to provide a plan of sustainable development for the approaching 21st century which concluded with a very long and complex document, whose audience was our world leaders and planners, entitled "Agenda 21".
As the future will obviously include the youth of today, Peace Child was commissioned to bring together this same global youth to produce a version of Agenda 21 specifically them. The title of this youth edition was " Rescue Mission Planet Earth ". Most important to our work together in education was chapter 25 of the 40 chapters, "The Importance of Youth Involvement." And so the heart of our work in Peru and beyond developing educational materials and initiatives on the complexity of our environment, economic and social life, was guided by the principles of Chapter 25.
“It is imperative that youth from all parts of the world participate actively in all relevant levels of decision-making processes because it affects their lives today and has implications for their futures. In addition to their intellectual contribution and their ability to mobilise support, they bring unique perspectives that need to be taken into account.” Agenda 21- Chapter 25.2 (UN 1992)
Perhaps an example of the above was our initiative in 2002 to bring together schoolchildren from native communities in Manu National Park, with schools in the southwest of England. The result was a beautiful calendar, which not only served as a useful resource in classrooms and homes in England, but also increased awareness of the fragility of life in Amazonian communities and the need to preserve this important forest.
This collaboration of both educational communities in Peru and Great Britain was always full of surprises, situations that occur without planning, but they were examples of the value in bringing the two communities together with incredible results in terms of educational successes. So, I want, finally, to finish this little article about me, or our, work in Peru, to tell one more story that still amuses me.
An important component of the work was the physical exchanges of head teachers and teachers from both countries. One of my best memories was a visit in 2009 of teachers from Cusco schools to schools in England.
Obviously, with then thirteen years living in Peru, I knew the importance of Pachamama and the respect that should be observed. It was lunchtime in a very educationally dynamic primary school after a fun morning of activities together. The teachers from Cusco were impressed and we were sitting in the canteen together with the students enjoying our plates of food. It was a tradition in this little school that the very important visitors (the VIPs), such as teachers from the other side of the world, were seated at a special table, The Golden Table, with a view of all the students talking and enjoying their meals.
As we received our desserts one of the teachers asked me "Tom, please, why is there so much food on the floor?" Of course, his observation was correct, there was bread, fruit, chips and much, much more everywhere.
I went to off to ask the lunchtime assistants and their answer, for me, was disappointing. They explained that, if the students do not want to eat their whole meal, because they do not like it or they are full, they simply drop the bits they do not want on the floor, and the assistants cannot say anything.
I returned to The Golden Table with my informed answer which I relayed to my concerned teacher. After a few seconds to compute what he had heard, he stood up and clapped his hands to get attention. Silence came. And, with a very friendly voice began speaking (with me on translation duties as ever)............
"Thank you, children. And thank you for the wonderful morning we spent with you and for this delicious lunch. We've enjoyed every moment of it, and it's obvious that you're doing wonderful things here at the school. We are particularly impressed by your incredible respect and generosity towards Pachamama for the valuable food that you have so generously offered back to her............... Thank you"
Enough said.... I was told on my next visit to the school about a month after the teachers had returned to Peru, that the amount of food on the floor had dropped to practically zero......... Now that’s got to be global education at its finest.
I miss Peru deeply and one day maybe I will be able to return to my work with Peru in some way. Global changes, such as peace, the economy, the pandemic, and more, have all come together to change the impact of my work, both here in Gringolandia and in Peru.
I have been reassessing what my contribution may be in a new world that seems to have forgotten how fragile our planet is and that it is in urgent need of healing. We need to find a realistic and fair ways for everyone to live lightly (like, for example, my official ‘company car bicycle’) on this lonely planet. Powerful countries, including Britain, are distracted right now and that affects the whole world. Before we can rescue the Earth, we have to reorientate ourselves in Gringolandia. And maybe the Peruvians can help us with their wisdom.
Thank you, Pamela, for asking me to write this article and my best wishes to all Peruvians in foreign lands, wherever you are. Perhaps this is the beginning of an opportunity to bring together a new global community in mission for a more sustainable future ............... Who knows and maybe catch you later ...........
For a little more detail on the type of work GlobalEd was involved in and some of the partners' jobs today, here are three web links.
In addition, there are some illustrative photos attached.
www.globaled.org.uk
www.peacechild.org
www.gruporural.pucp.edu.pe
Tom Jolly, GlobalEd, July 28, 2025
Photo crédito :GlobalEd
This note is published in Spanish in El Peruchito newspaper
https://www.elperuchito.com/tom-jolly-educador-y-promotor-de-la-educacion-para-el-desarrollo-sostenible-en-nuestro-pais-extrano-profundamente-a-peru/
UK in Peru - British Embassy Lima
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Perú
Consulado General del Peru en Londres
Ministerio de Educación del Perú